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Vagharshak Haroutiunyan: Azerbaijani Armed Forces have no means to
reflect Armenian missiles
by Nana Martirosyan
Saturday, August 16, 12:47
Azerbaijan's leadership is well aware that Armenia's missiles are
capable of hitting any facility in Azerbaijan and they have no means
fore defense, the fromer minister of defense Vagharshak Haroutiunyan
told RFE/RL Armenian Service.
Despite its massive military buildup Azerbaijan still lacks the
capacity to protect its strategic facilities against Armenian missile
strikes in case of another war for Nagorno-Karabakh, the retired
Armenian army general claimed on Friday.
Armenia and Azerbaijan threatened each other with devastating
long-range attacks during the recent escalation of fighting along the
border between the two states and "the line of contact" around
Karabakh. Each side claimed to be capable of destroying any target in
the other's territory.
The Armenian military had made clear earlier that it will target
Azerbaijan's vital oil and gas installations if Baku acts on its
threats to reconquer Karabakh and the surrounding Armenian-controlled
territories.
General Vagharshak Harutiunian, who had served as Armenia's defense
minister in 1999-2000, insisted that the Azerbaijani army lacks the
kind of sophisticated weapons that can neutralize such strikes. He
said S-300 surface-to-air missile systems purchased by Azerbaijan from
Russia in 2010 can only be used for anti-aircraft purposes. "S-300 is
a serious system, but it needs special missiles in order to be used
for missile defense," Harutiunian told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am). "Russia doesn't sell such missiles to any other
state."
Azerbaijan may also possess Israeli missile defense systems. They were
reportedly among $1.6 billion worth of weapons which Israeli defense
firms agreed to sell to Baku in 2012. Speaking about the Armenian
missile arsenal, Harutiunian singled out Soviet-manufactured Scud-B
systems with a firing range of 300 kilometers. The Armenian army also
has more precise Russian Tochka- U ballistic missiles with a firing
range of 120 kilometers.
President Serzh Sarkisian promised last December that Armenia will
acquire more powerful weapons in the coming years. "One or two more
years, and you will be able to proudly say that the Armenian army
possesses weapons which other states 20, 30 or 40 times our size do
not possess," he told soldiers at a military base in the northeastern
Tavush province.
Some analysts believe that Sarkisian referred to Russian
state-of-the-art Iskander-M missiles that can strike targets more than
400 kilometers away. Iskander was designed to overcome any of the
existing missile defense shields.
"They don't aim to start war," Harutiunian said of Baku. "They realize
that if a war breaks out they are not going to win. That is why they
provoke incidents and sabotage attacks, rather than use heavy weapons.
They don't reach a point where a war is inevitable."
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectidê48DE30-2521-11E4-BE350EB7C0D21663
reflect Armenian missiles
by Nana Martirosyan
Saturday, August 16, 12:47
Azerbaijan's leadership is well aware that Armenia's missiles are
capable of hitting any facility in Azerbaijan and they have no means
fore defense, the fromer minister of defense Vagharshak Haroutiunyan
told RFE/RL Armenian Service.
Despite its massive military buildup Azerbaijan still lacks the
capacity to protect its strategic facilities against Armenian missile
strikes in case of another war for Nagorno-Karabakh, the retired
Armenian army general claimed on Friday.
Armenia and Azerbaijan threatened each other with devastating
long-range attacks during the recent escalation of fighting along the
border between the two states and "the line of contact" around
Karabakh. Each side claimed to be capable of destroying any target in
the other's territory.
The Armenian military had made clear earlier that it will target
Azerbaijan's vital oil and gas installations if Baku acts on its
threats to reconquer Karabakh and the surrounding Armenian-controlled
territories.
General Vagharshak Harutiunian, who had served as Armenia's defense
minister in 1999-2000, insisted that the Azerbaijani army lacks the
kind of sophisticated weapons that can neutralize such strikes. He
said S-300 surface-to-air missile systems purchased by Azerbaijan from
Russia in 2010 can only be used for anti-aircraft purposes. "S-300 is
a serious system, but it needs special missiles in order to be used
for missile defense," Harutiunian told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am). "Russia doesn't sell such missiles to any other
state."
Azerbaijan may also possess Israeli missile defense systems. They were
reportedly among $1.6 billion worth of weapons which Israeli defense
firms agreed to sell to Baku in 2012. Speaking about the Armenian
missile arsenal, Harutiunian singled out Soviet-manufactured Scud-B
systems with a firing range of 300 kilometers. The Armenian army also
has more precise Russian Tochka- U ballistic missiles with a firing
range of 120 kilometers.
President Serzh Sarkisian promised last December that Armenia will
acquire more powerful weapons in the coming years. "One or two more
years, and you will be able to proudly say that the Armenian army
possesses weapons which other states 20, 30 or 40 times our size do
not possess," he told soldiers at a military base in the northeastern
Tavush province.
Some analysts believe that Sarkisian referred to Russian
state-of-the-art Iskander-M missiles that can strike targets more than
400 kilometers away. Iskander was designed to overcome any of the
existing missile defense shields.
"They don't aim to start war," Harutiunian said of Baku. "They realize
that if a war breaks out they are not going to win. That is why they
provoke incidents and sabotage attacks, rather than use heavy weapons.
They don't reach a point where a war is inevitable."
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectidê48DE30-2521-11E4-BE350EB7C0D21663